If Wednesday’s performance against the Heat was any indication -- a combined 32 points, 16 assists and 14 rebounds in a 101-96 upset of the two-time defending NBA champions -- it’s an affirmative. A thousand times, yes. Re-sign them both.

“We just work very well off each other,” said Bradley. “I love playing with him.”

In just his third game back from an ankle injury, the undersized two-guard was his usual self defensively, holding Dwyane Wade to 17 points on 17 shots, and his new self offensively, scoring a game-high 23 points on a career-high six 3-pointers.

“He shot the ball extremely well, he guarded the ball extremely well and he looked like himself,” said Rondo, who again praised Bradley’s extra work on his jumper.

Of course, Rondo’s vintage effort against Miami didn’t require a jump shot. Instead, he dominated as the game dictated, distributing seven assists to five different teammates in the first quarter alone, collecting 10 rebounds on a night when no one else grabbed more than five and finding the floater (twice) that’s escaped him since his return, giving the C’s leads of 99-94 and 101-96 in the final two minutes.

“He’s our leader, and he’s our star player,” said Bradley. “We always look to get the ball in his hands, because we know he’s going to make the right plays.”

Bradley and Rondo both had the athleticism to be lottery picks, but fell to 19th and 21st, respectively, and that continues to be a driving force for each of them. Quietly, stubbornly, they set out to prove everyone wrong. For the most part, it’s worked.

“Between the both of them, they attack,” said Ray Allen, who earned his 14 points, “so you do have to be very alert when you’re out there on the floor.” That praise comes reluctantly from a guy who lost his job to Bradley and his team to Rondo.

Of course, Ainge’s options for his future backcourt are far more complicated than one game against a Miami team sans LeBron James in the NBA doldrums of March.

Between Bradley’s shoulders and ankles and Rondo’s knee and ankles, the two have only played a combined 19 games together over the past two seasons. As a result, Stevens knows little of his starting backcourt. In his postgame press conference, he used phrases like, “They seem to be a good match,” and, “It seems to be a fit.”

“We don’t have a whole lot of sample size to work with,” the Celtics coach admitted.

“It has been frustrating,” copped Bradley, whose never played more than 64 games in a season. “We’ve both had injuries, but we get a chance to finish the last 13 games off playing with each other, going out there and showing them what we can do.”

Ideally, they’re a lethal combination. Defensively, Bradley locks down one opposing guard, allowing Rondo to thrive at what he does best, playing the passing lanes. Offensively, Rondo finds Bradley on the opposite end of those same passing lanes, where the latter thrives from the right corner (42.3 3P%) and elbow (46.9 FG%).

“I would love it,” Bradley said of remaining the four-time All-Star’s backcourt mate. “I would love to play for Boston, and I would love to play with Rondo, so I wouldn’t mind it at all. I’m pretty sure any guard in the NBA would love to play with Rondo.”

But Ainge can’t build around them on ideals alone, especially since Bradley becomes a restricted free agent this summer and Rondo an unrestricted one the next. Rumors circulated prior to the season that Bradley and the Celtics were $2 million apart annually in contract extension discussions, which seems too close to not eventually get something done for a 23-year-old All-Defensive guard averaging 14.1 points.

But Rondo isn’t an easy case, either. Come draft night in June, Ainge will be faced with the difficult choice of trading his lottery pick for a veteran piece to pair with Rondo or trading Rondo for a younger piece to pair with his lottery pick. How Rondo meshes with Bradley over the final month of the season may influence that decision.

“Time will tell, right?” said Stevens. Only the clock is running out on that question.

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